[Updates to breaking story here.]

The death toll has risen to eight, with at least 160 injured. Three of the dead were policemen. At least 11 Indonesians have been killed.

Police immediately blamed Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian terror network that is linked to al-Qaida. The group has been accused in several deadly bombings, including the bombing of the JW Marriott hotel in the same neighborhood last year, in which 12 people were killed.

Another report says:

A CAR bomb attack outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta today bore all the hallmarks of Malaysian terror suspect Azahari Husin, the senior member of an al-Qaeda-linked group, Indonesia's police chief said.

Azahari Husin is an engineer who is wanted as a suspect of the 2002 Bali terrorist bombing.

Info terror group Jemaah Islamiyah can be found here.

UPDATE: Reports vary on the death toll, some reports stand at eight, others have moved the number up to eleven.

A list of terror attacks in Indonesia,going back to 1999.

Fox reports that embassies had been warned of potential attacks:

In recent weeks several Western embassies, including those of the United States and Australia, have warned their citizens about possible attacks by Muslim militants. On Thursday, the U.S. mission renewed the warning, urging Americans to stay away from the Kuningan district in which the blast occurred.

Of note: Indonesia elections are scheduled for September 20, and Australia elections will take place next month.

UPDATES:

Prime Minister John Howard said it was too early to say that the attack had been prompted by Australia's involvement in the Iraq war or by the election campaign, pointing out it came just two days before the third anniversary of September 11 and 10 days before a second round of Indonesian presidential elections. He played down fears terrorists might strike on Australian soil to disrupt the October 9 election campaign.

Indonesia Defends Security Policy:

INDONESIA'S government today defended the security arrangements in place outside the Australian embassy and said it had done everything possible to ward off an attack like the massive bomb blast which hit the Jakarta mission today.

Chief foreign spokesman Marty Natalegawa said it was almost impossible to ward off determined attackers or suicide bombers.

"Obviously, we have not done enough in preventing this, but I don't know if any governments could have a 100 per cent guarantee against such attacks," he said.

"We have done what we could.

"But we need to be lucky all the time and they need to be lucky just once."

Campaign on Hold:

Both Prime Minister John Howard and Federal Opposition Leader Mark Latham have cancelled their planned campaign events tomorrow because of the bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta.

Mr Howard has already been briefed by the head of the Australian Federal Police Mick Keelty and ASIO chief Denis Richardson.

Tomorrow he will fly to Canberra for an update from security officials.

Mr Latham called a temporary halt to his campaign for Friday and also on Saturday to mark the third anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.